


Quarantine

by BenettClaire



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, M/M, POV Remus Lupin, POV Sirius Black, Quarantine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23242078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenettClaire/pseuds/BenettClaire
Summary: This pandemic is spreading everywere, so I’m making it my job it reaches fanfiction too.
Relationships: Euphemia Potter/Fleamont Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 25
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my way of saying please, let’s make quarantine fics a thing!!!
> 
> Disclaimer: The characters and scenarios appearing on this work are part of the Harry Potter world created and owned by J.K. Rowling, following a plot of my invention that does not abscribe to the official story canon, and from wich I do not make any kind of profit.

“Is Lily’s friend there yet?”

“No, but he must be about to,” said Sirius, eyeing the clock above James’ too-big face on his phone screen. “By the way, where’s she?”

“She ran to the hospital to grab a couple last things for mum and dad.”

Sirius’ stomach dropped.

“I should be there too.”

“Don’t worry, Pads, they’ll be alright. Before you know it, we’ll be having dinner together again and you’ll have to listen to mum nag about cutting that shaggy hair of yours. You’ll be wishing you were still in sweet, sweet quarantine, just you see.”

Sirius let out a small laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but just... fuck this virus.”

“Fuck this virus,” repeated James with feeling.

They grinned at each other, and just like that, the mood lifted.

“Well, you going to let me see them or what?” asked Sirius impatiently. “Enough of your ugly mug hogging my screen.”

The image shook vigorously as James bounded through the Potter’s hallway.

“Muuuuuum!” he bellowed. “Sirius called me ugly!”

“You do look a bit peaky today, my dear.” Sirius grinned at Mrs. Potter’s voice sounding faintly through the phone.

There was some shuffling as the screen was turned around, and something that sounded like James’ grumbling.

“Hello, boy-” greeted Mr. Potter good naturedly, or tried too as his wife talked over him.

“Hi Siri, darling, how are you? Have you finished unpacking yet?”

Sirius chuckled, relieved to see they really looked fine.

“Almost. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, we’re good, it’s just a bad flu. But they won’t let me do nothing! Not even cook! It’s not the virus I’m worried about but depending on my son’s cooking.”

“Mum, you have to rest, and I know how to cook-”

“You know how to set things on fire, you mean.”

“It was six years ago! And Sirius was there too!”

“Yes, you both certainly seem to share that particular talent,” quipped Mr. Potter. “What are your plans, Sirius? Is your fridge overflowing with prepared food?”

“Maybe,” he admitted sheepishly. “But I bought a bit of everything just in case, with how people are raiding the supermarkets.”

James snorted. “More like you bought a lot of everything, if I know you well.”

“Laugh if you want, but i had to fight an army of old ladies for the cleaning products.”

“You? Cleaning? I’ve shared a flat with you for five years and I’ve never seen you so much as pick a mop”

“This place is filthy, I had no choice. It seems that mum went a bit batty at the end- more than she already was, that is- and Kreacher was already too old to do much about it.”

It was the wrong thing to say, he realized, as Mrs. Potter took it as an invitation to give Sirius a twenty minute lecture about the proper way to clean every last corner of the house. By the end of it, he had forgotten everything.

The call ended not much later, and Sirius let himself fall back on the sofa with a deep sigh. He coughed as a cloud of dust surrounded him instantly.

It had been all shit timing, really. James and Sirius, who had been sharing a small flat together for the last five years, had agreed to let their lease end so James and Lily could find a new place together. Then, barely a week before moving out, they’d opened the door to a thin, sour-looking man that presented himself as Mr. Shallow, attorney to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. Sirius’ reaction had been one of anger, followed by another of utter surprise.

As it turned out, Mr. Shallow was there in capacity of the Black Family’s will executor following the death of Mrs. Walburga Black, second-to-last holder of the name of Black and Sirius’ mother.

Sirius had had no contact with his mother since he ran away at the age of sixteen, not when his father died and neither when his brother disappeared. He’d always assumed he was disowned as soon as he set a foot on the street, his face burned off the family tree that stretched along the wall of his childhood home just as his cousin Andromeda and many others before him.

But apparently, the archaic (and pretty sexist) laws to which the Blacks had resorted for centuries in their obsession to keep the family’s wealth and name in the main bloodline had worked in his favour, leaving him as the only beneficiary of the Black estate over his married female cousins. From night to day, he’d found himself in possession of a rather large fortune, which added to the more modest but nonetheless considerable amount his uncle Alphard had left him at age seventeen, as well as the property of Number 12, Grimmauld Place in the district of Islington, London.

He was quick to buy a nice flat in Camden town, but it would be almost a month before the previous owner left and Sirius could move in, so he’d planned to stay with the Potters in the meantime. James and Lily were staying there too, as they were still searching for their new place, but then the quarantine mess had happened.

The virus had been spreading through the world, slowly but surely, over roughly four months now. The news had been going about it night and day, but it had seemed too distant to the indifferent citizens of the United Kingdom, too foreign, until it was too late.

The number of infected skyrocketed, and so did the deaths, and the idiot prime minister who had failed to do anything useful until then had panicked and declared the state of emergency, imposing an indefinite quarantine in the whole country.

And then, in the blink of an eye, James’ parents were infected, and James and Lily were there already so they would stay to take care of them, because they were already exposed and Euphemia and Fleamont had been told to stay at home if they were not in critical condition because the hospitals were absolutely collapsed.

Sirius would have gone too, virus be damned, but it wasn’t likely that he would make it to Godric’s Hollow before they closed the roads, and his friends convinced him to stay in London.

And with the lease of their old flat ending that same day, he had only one place to go.

The sound of the doorbell echoing loudly through the silent walls of Grimmauld place pulled Sirius out of his thoughts.

He’d been waiting for Lily’s friend from work, or rather from when she’d worked at that little cafe during her uni years. Apparently, the bloke was staying in some shitty student accommodation, and lily had begged Sirius to take him in so he wouldn’t be trapped in a single room for weeks.

Sirius wasn’t fooled and knew this was Lily and James’ way to leave him with a babysitter as much as doing a favour to her friend, but accepted without putting up a fight because, to be honest, he wasn’t thrilled to be in that house alone either. He just hoped the guy wasn’t an idiot.

Letting his hair down from his bun, Sirius made his way through the gloomy hallway and opened the door.

“Hello, you must be Sirius,” said the boy in front of him, shuffling one of the bags on his shoulder to offer his hand. “Remus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I waited for days for someone to come up with something like this, but when it didn’t come I was forced to do it myself. I do have a fairly solid outline for a long fic, but I don’t trust myself enough to promise I’ll continue it, and decided to post this as a little teaser and leave you wanting more in hopes that someone bored and locked up at home because of the coronavirus quarantine like I am (but a bit more constant if possible) gets inspired and does the work for me.
> 
> I truly don’t make myself responsible for any misspellings and such because I didn’t have the energy to check it properly and english is not my first language.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, short as it is, but most of all I hope you feel the need to go and write something better immediately. 
> 
> PD: If anyone knows of another quarantine fic I may have missed, please let me know!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, against all odds, here’s another chapter!

Remus followed Sirius down a long, dark corridor. He couldn’t help but look curiously around, losing track of what Sirius was saying to him.

Very old-looking, ornate lamps hung all along the walls, though at least half of them were out, and paired with the huge chandelier covered in cobwebs above their heads, gave the the place an odd look of lost grandeur.

There were big, square patches on the wallpaper that appeared less worn out, as if they had been covered until very recently, and they continued up the grand staircase at the end of the corridor.

“Your bedroom is in the third floor,” Sirius was saying. “I hope you don’t mind the stairs, but it was the most habitable one. Did you bring sheets?”

“Uhm, yeah,” answered Remus distractedly. “Lily told me.”

“Brilliant. The ones in the house were all moth-eaten.”

Remus thought Sirius sounded a bit too bright for someone who was talking about their destroyed sheets. In fact, he’d seemed very out of place in general to Remus since he’d stepped through the door.  
With a handsome face, long black hair that reached his shoulders and ripped jeans, he looked more like the rebel heartthrob of a teenage rock band than someone you would ever have imagined living in a house like this.

They got to the third landing, with one door just turning left from the stairs and another two further down the hallway. Sirius opened the first one to a medium-sized bedroom with a twin bed, a nightstand, an open wardrobe with a full-body mirror on the inside and a big, reclining armchair, and stood in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips.

“It’s not much, just enough so my father could hide from my mother when they couldn’t stand each other any longer. He died some years ago and I don’t think It’s been used since —that’s probably why it’s in a better state than most of the others.”

“It’s fine,” said Remus as he let his bags fall on the bed with a relieved sigh. The room had the same dusty, damp smell as the rest of the house and all the furniture was dark and antique, but it was a bit more simple and it made it look almost cozy. Remus liked it.

“Thanks for letting me stay.”

“No problem.” Sirius waved a dismissing hand. “This place’s too big anyways. Speaking of which, do you want me to give you the grand tour?” He added a little flourish, and Remus had to hide a smile at how much the other boy talked with his hands.

“I think it might be better if I had a shower first, washing off the germs and all that,” he started, but then remembered something. “Unless you wanted to go shopping first, of course. I had no time to drop by the grocery store, but maybe we should go before-”

“Already done,” Sirius interrupted with a self-satisfied smirk. “I bought enough food to last us for a week, possibly a month.”

“Oh,” Remus laughed, a bit surprised. “Okay. Tell me how much is it, then, and I’ll pay-”

But Sirius would have none of that, and went on to show him the monster of a bathroom next door while ignoring all of Remus’ protests.

“We’ll be sharing, because I’m on the floor above and there’s no bathroom there. Not very convenient, I know, but old houses are weird like that.”

Remus couldn’t hold back a snort. “Oh, I don’t know, It might be a bit too small.”

Sirius laughed too, and had the decency to look a bit sheepish.

“Right, just go in then. I’ll start making dinner.”

At that, Remus felt his eyes go wide and his mouth open automatically to argue, but Sirius spoke again before he could get a word in.

“And by ‘making dinner’,” he said emphatically, “I mean putting the frozen pizzas in the oven. Is that alright with you?”

Remus clamped his mouth shut again and nodded, trying again not to smile.

“Okay. I’ll be out in ten.”

“Perfect.” Said Sirius as he disappeared down the stairs, smug grin still in place.

As he climbed into the gigantic bathtub, Remus kept turning it all over in his head. The sheer ridiculousness of the house, so big and dark and pompous, and with that decaying touch that made it look very much like a rich villain’s lair from a children's book, not to mention Sirius’ strange attitude towards it, the fact that he was going to spend the next few weeks with a total stranger, as well as said stranger’s willingness to cover all of Remus’ expenses like this was some kind of vacation in an all-inclusive resort instead of a bloody quarantine. Remus felt like Lily had left out crucial bits of information when she had talked him about this.

He didn’t blame her, though. Today had been a crazy day for everyone, and he imagined more so for people involved in the healthcare service. Remus was sure Lily was a brilliant nurse, just as she’d been a brilliant student, but she was still in a position of high risk and Remus had been vaguely worried since things started getting serious. That’s why he’d sent her a message this morning, just to check she was ok, but she had called right back and, after a too-short conversation, managed to convince him to stay with a friend of her boyfriend from whom Remus knew nothing about.

He stopped and chided himself. Sirius seemed nice, even if a bit odd at first, and his offer was incredibly generous. The house, too, was miles better than his cramped dorm; at least here he’d have room to breathe, It certainly was big enough. Remus should be grateful.

Once he was finished in the bathroom, he went back to his room, put on a different pair of jeans and an old sweater (he figured it was too early for pyjamas) and walked all the way downstairs before realizing he had no idea where to go.

“Sirius?” He called into the gloomy hallway.

His hair was still damp from the shower, and a cold shiver went through his spine.

“Here!”

He followed Sirius’ voice through a set of narrow stone stairs, leading into a cavernous room which appeared to be the kitchen. It was warmer than the rest of the house, he noticed pleasantly, and also better lit, thanks to the large, roaring fireplace at the far end.

“This is huge.”

“Huh?” Sirius snapped his head up to Remus, and then looked lazily around as if he’d never considered it before. “Yeah, I guess so. Beer?”

They settled on the corner of a long wooden table that could have easily fit at least a couple dozen people, and an uncomfortable silence fell over them. Remus looked thoughtfully at his slice of pizza.

“Listen, Sirius, I don’t want to be rude, but about the food-”

Sirius let out a sharp bark of laughter that echoed on the rough stone walls and startled Remus.

“I knew it. I knew right away you’d be just the type.”

“What?”

“You’re one of those people who wouldn’t let you buy them a beer unless they were paying for the next round immediately after,” Sirius was swinging on the hind legs of his chair, getting more and more animated as he spoke to the point Remus feared for the pizza in his hand. “or you’d give them some spare change for the bus and they’d give it back the next day, down to the last penny.”

“And that’s a bag thing?” Said Remus, feeling very confused and vaguely offended.

“No, no. Just funny. And pretty useless, if you’re dealing with me. Anyways, don’t worry,” The front legs of the chair came down with a loud thud as Sirius leant forward again, propping his chin on his hand. “you’ll be paying in kind.”

He took a big bite and looked up at Remus, who felt his cheeks grow hot and took a minute to respond.

“I see. And which kind are we talking about exactly?”

“I’m forcing you to help me set this god forsaken place right. Cleaning, cataloging… all that needs to be done so I can get rid of it as soon as this quarantine madness ends.”

“I still don’t think that’s entirely fair, Sirius,” said Remus with a kind smile.

“Oh, don’t underestimate it. Knowing my family, this house may have a few skeletons in the closet, both literally and figuratively.”

Remus laughed, but he noticed Sirius’ voice had started catching a bitter tone. It only made his curiosity grow bigger.

“How come you live here alone?”

“I don’t.” Said Sirius shortly. “It was my family’s, but I just found out I’d inherited it when my mother kicked the bucket.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, she was quite a bitch.”

“I get you weren’t in the best of terms,” Remus said carefully.

Sirius snorted. “You could say that. By the way, that’s why you shouldn’t trouble yourself about the money thing.”

Remus stared confused for a few moments before Sirius elaborated.

“I got the whole Black estate, including the ol’ family fortune that’s been in the making for centuries. I wouldn’t have to lift a finger for the rest of my life if I didn’t want to, and still live like a king. Filthy rich, as they call it.”

Sirius’ words had become more and more aggressive as he spoke, all the while keeping a fixed smile that made him look a touch deranged. Remus decided to change topics and they made idle chatter for the rest of dinner, but he noticed Sirius wasn’t as relaxed as he’d been before.

By the time they were finished it was already late, and they agreed to leave the full house visit for tomorrow.

After the slightly awkward experience of brushing their teeth and going on their nightly routine together on their pyjamas (even with the two-piece sink and all the space in the bathroom) they said their good nights and Remus went straight to his room.

He put on the sheets he’d brought and some blankets Sirius had given him on top, and tired as he was from that mess of a day, fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s being unexpectedly difficult to write Sirius’ mood and attitude throughout the fic. It’s like OoTP Sirius but with two deaths, one betrayal and twelve years of prison less of trauma, with the only person that can soothe him but who is still learning how to.
> 
> I’m not one for describing locations either, so most of Grimmauld Place’s depiction has been shamelessly and unoriginally copied from the books and the HP lexicon.
> 
> As I’ve said before, I don’t know how often I’m gonna be updating or for how long I’m gonna keep up with it, but I hope you all enjoy it while it lasts.
> 
> Let me know what you think on the comments!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, this took forever to finish and I’m still not very happy with it, but I know I’m gonna get stuck if I keep going at it. 
> 
> The writing is a bit sloppy and It doesn’t push the story forward very much, but I felt like I had to show a bit of what’s going on Sirius mind before continuing with the action. Next chapter will be a lot more interesting, I promise.

Sirius woke up early. Well, earlier than he would’ve ever thought he’d voluntarily wake up on a Saturday, anyways. 

It felt so strange to be on his old room again, and he didn’t know if the fact that everything was just as he’d left it almost six years ago made it better or worse. His books, the pile of magazines in the corner, the posters on the walls… he even found some of his old clothes that he didn’t take with him when he ran away. He was waiting for his mother to barge in at any moment, screeching about the disgraceful wastrel she had for a son or whatever despicable fault she’d found in Sirius that day. Needless to say he didn’t have a very good night.

Remus wasn’t up yet, so Sirius got dressed and went down to the kitchen to get some breakfast. He made a big pot of coffee to make up for the little sleep he’d had and some toast to go with it, munching moodily and wishing for Remus to get up already so it wouldn’t be so silent. 

All in all, he’d seemed pretty alright to Sirius. He remembered having heard of Remus before, when Lily had just started working at the coffee shop and talking about her fabulous new coworker, driving James mad with jealousy for months. He’d gotten over it, of course, but Sirius could see why his friend had worried so much. Even at first glance, Remus gave that distinct ‘smart, quiet and nice’ impression, and it would be really easy to picture him as Lily’s type over James if you didn’t know how disgustingly in love those two were. He was admittedly attractive, too, with a few scars on his face that Sirius was very curious about and scruffy clothes that gave him enough of a rough look to keep him interesting instead of swotty.

Sirius finished his breakfast and wondered if he should have made something for Remus too. He felt tempted, out of sheer boredom if nothing else, but in the end he thought it might be a bit weird and decided to call James instead. 

He called one, two, three times until James’ squinting face appeared next to his on his screen.

“I was sleeping, you tosser!”

Sirius grinned. “I know.” 

There was some groaning and shuffling as James sat up on the bed and put his glasses on.

“What do you want?” He snapped.

But before Sirius could answer, another voice came through the phone.

“Well, well, someone’s grumpy this morning.”

“Hey, Lils,” said Sirius.

A moment later, a smiling Lily sat down beside James and took the phone off his hand.”

“Good morning Sirius. How’s it going? Is Remus there?”

“Did anyone call me?”

Sirius turned to see Remus stepping into the kitchen, visibly sleep-ruffled and still in his pyjamas.

“Remus! How are you?”

Sirius held his phone further so they could both appear on the screen.

“Fine, Lily, thank you.”

“Did Sirius behave?”

“Oi!” He protested.

Remus laughed and cast a side glance at him. “Yeah, he did so far.”

Sirius raised his eyebrows at him, but James interrupted before he could retort.

“Sirius,” His mop of unruly black hair obscured the image as he drew closer. “are those your football clothes from school?”

Sirius looked down at himself and then up again quickly.

“What?” He said defensively. “It’s the only sportswear I own!”

James smirked. “Did you roll up the shorts too?”

“Fuck off.”

Remus looked confused between them, and as soon as James noticed he turned into the cat who got the cream.

“You see, Remus,” he spoke with the poise of an expert storyteller. “me and Sirius here used to play football in secondary school, and he’d roll up his shorts at the waist-”

“Wait, like girls did on P.E.?” Said Remus.

“Exactly. He said that way they showed off his…” James made a ridiculous, dramatic pause. “assets.”

Sirius scowled as the other three laughed at him.

“The worst part,” said Lily as she calmed down a bit. “is that it worked. I remember they had to put up extra seats because lots of girls who had never cared about football before suddenly didn’t miss a single match.”

“I recall you being there too, Evans,” said Sirius flirtatiously.

“Yes, but she went to see _my_ assets.” James put his head on Lily’s shoulder and looked up besottedly at her. “Right darling?”

Sirius scoffed. “More like seeing you make an ass of yourself.”

James flipped him the v.

Lily said something then about grabbing a quick shower before going to the hospita thenl, and when James mumbled something about joining her Sirius made a retching noise and hung up without saying goodbye. 

“Too much too early,” He said to Remus, who simply grinned and shook his head as he went for the kettle.

After finishing in the kitchen, Sirius showed Remus around the house and, for lack of anything better to do, they decided to start with the cleanup. 

Sorting through the cleaning supplies was an absolute nightmare. Kreacher must’ve been really losing faculties to let everything become such a mess, thought Sirius as he dug into the big cupboard where he knew the brooms and mops were kept from when he used to hide in there with Regulus, and that was now a clutter of dirty rags, leaking buckets and dozens of plastic bottles with expired products.

Sirius didn’t get to see the old butler again when he got the house, but he knew he’d been forced to retire shortly after his mother’s death when it became evident he was no longer able to carry out with his duties, and probably hadn’t been for some time. He wondered what had happened to him —probably pissed about being kicked out like a dog, wishing to be left to rot under the same roof as his beloved Mistress. 

Sirius felt something akin to pity and stomped it down viciously. After a full day, he was finding it increasingly difficult not to think about things he’d been trying to forget for years. Every last corner of the house was filled to the brim with memories, most of them bad, but curiously, it was the good ones which hurt the most. 

His blood boiled when he remembered his mother’s screams just as it had back then, her harsh words, her punishments, his father’s cold indifference… but the images of his childhood, when he’d been naive and spoilt and too young to understand, running around and causing havoc with Regulus always at his heel, preening at the attention of all his older cousins at family dinners, enjoying all the perks that came with growing in a family with more money than sense, they twisted in his gut in a mix of guilt and bitterness and grief that left him feeling unbalanced and made it nearly impossible to keep everything from seeping out.

After a while, they managed to get together enough supplies to get started and Sirius threw himself into the task in hopes of letting his mind go blank.

It was going to be a long, long few weeks.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m seeing a few comments about people liking how the story is treating the same issues we’re all facing right now, so I wanted to propose something. 
> 
> Why don’t you tell me how are you handling the quarantine? It might be good to let things out and learn about other people’s experiences (I’m curious myself for sure). What do you think?

**Author's Note:**

> I waited for days for someone to come up with something like this, but when it didn’t come I was forced to do it myself. I do have a fairly solid outline for a long fic, but I don’t trust myself enough to promise I’ll continue it, and decided to post this as a little teaser and leave you wanting more in hopes that someone bored and locked up at home because of the coronavirus quarantine like I am (but a bit more constant if possible) gets inspired and does the work for me.
> 
> I truly don’t make myself responsible for any misspellings and such because I didn’t have the energy to check it properly and english is not my first language.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, short as it is, but most of all I hope you feel the need to go and write something better immediately. 
> 
> PD: If anyone knows of another quarantine fic I may have missed, please let me know!!!


End file.
